4 i4 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER 



heavens made for a feries of ages. And a Theban Herfcbel* 

 would have given us the hiftory of planets he then obferved, 

 which, after appearing for ages, are now viable no more, 

 or have taken a different form. 



The dial, or gold circle of Ofimandyas, mews what an 

 immenfe progrefs they had made in aftronomy in fo little 

 time. This, too, is a proof of an early fall and revival of 

 the arts in Egypt, for the knowledge and ufe of Armillas 

 had been loll with the deftru&ion of Thebes, and were not 

 again difcovered, that is, revived, till the reign of Ptolemy 

 Soter, 300 years before the Chriftian asra. I confider that 

 immenfe quantity of hieroglyphics, with which the walls 

 of the temples, and faces of the obelifks, are covered, as 

 containing fo many aitronomical obfervations. 



I look upon thefe as the ephemerides of fome thoufand 

 years, and that fufhciently accounts for their number. Their 

 date and accuracy were indifputable; they were exhibited in 

 the irioft public places, to be consulted as occafion required; 

 and, by the deepnefs of the engraving, and hardnefs of the 

 materials, and the thicknefs and foiidity of the block itfelf 

 upon which they were carved, they bade defiance at once 

 to violence and time. 



I know that mofl of the learned writers are of fentiments 



very different from mine in thefe refpects. They look for 



4 myfleries 



An adronomer greatly above my praife. 



